Misprounced Monsters; Or... What did you call that monster, again?

[lukelightning]

I do think the tendency of many Americans in my experience to try to pronounce every foreign word as if it were American English is appalling.

Why? People in China pronounce foreign words as if they were Chinese.

 

[Zander]

They're not monster names, but my DM pronounces.. Cache as [cash-SHAY].

That's more or less correct in English, depending on the meaning. It's from the French for hidden as a qualifier and hide as a noun, and therefore pronounced "ca-SHAY" or "CASH" depending on the context.

 

[Rackhir]

Why? People in China pronounce foreign words as if they were Chinese.

Not to mention the Japanese. English over there is a decoration style, not a language to them.

However this is my favorite quote on the topic.

“The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.”
- James D. Nicoll

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Back to our topic

There was an old Dragon magazine cartoon which showed a pair of adventurers underwater with an Ixitxachitl sneaking up on the one with his back turned and the other Adventurer was frantically scrawling on a sign that had something like

"Ixitlcasdfhty" (crossed out)
"Ichytaxyl" (Crossed-out)
"MONSTER!"

Written on it.

 

[Zander]

Yeppers. There was. I don't recall the issue # (91 might be right). Here's some from WotC's site...

Herb: ERB

In American, not in English. In English, it's "HERB". :\

 

[Huw]

Why? People in China pronounce foreign words as if they were Chinese.

Tell me about it! "Ying" for English, "Mei" for American, and my name becomes "Shou". And don't get me started on the Japanese and Singaporeans...

Because -- basketball team notwithstanding -- the peoples of early Ireland and Scotland were Celts (said "kelts" not "selts").

I cringe everytime I hear people say "Seltics."

Me too. Most people in Britain get it right, but then a lot of us are Celts. Don't forget the Welsh, Cornish and Manx!

While we're on it, how come, despite the spelling, nearly everyone says Genghis Khan with a hard g? It's pronounced Jenghis.

 

[lukelightning]

nearly everyone says Genghis Khan with a hard g? It's pronounced Jenghis.

And Attila the Hun is ATT-ila, not a-TILL-a. I think these guys went on conqeuring rampages because nobody every said their names right.

 

[Nebulous]

i've always pronounced sauhaugin as "sa-haw-gwin"

And although i heard that it's "drow" (cow) i've always said "drow" (mow)

And i too pronounced it Jubilex for years until recently, here actually, someone pointed out that's it's different. I and still don't know how the hell to say the manta ray monsters. "Ix-ill-tich"??

 

[Mark Hope]

On the Jubilex/Juiblex dichotomy, wasn't there a spelling error at some point in a gaming release that gave rise to the two different versions? Can't recall, but I seem to remember something along those lines. I know that this happened to the heucuva/huecuva at some point, and then it changed back again...

 

[lukelightning]

Way back when, I was in a Palladium RPG and had a wizard who called all monsters by various dog latin terms; "saurogoblinius" was some lizardman thing, etc.

 

[Elfdart]

Yeppers. There was. I don't recall the issue # (91 might be right). Here's some from WotC's site:

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/dnddefinitivefaq.asp


Drow: DRAU (as in drowsy; rhymes with now and how)

That's kind of funny since the word comes from the same root as "troll" and "trow". So it should be pronounced "DROE":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drow

Creative origins

The drow, as they appear in fantasy fiction and games, were created by Gary Gygax, and appeared in the 1979 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons module, Hall of the Fire Giant King. They were first mentioned in the Dungeons & Dragons game in the 1st Edition 1977 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual under "Elf." They made their first statistical appearance in G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King (later G1-2-3 Against the Giants) (1978) by Gary Gygax. The story continued in modules D1 Descent into the Depths of the Earth, D2 Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, D3 Vault of the Drow, and Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits each of which expanded on drow culture. The first D&D manual that the drow appeared in was the original Fiend Folio.

Etymologically, "drow" is probably derived from the Shetland Isles Drow. Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1970) states: "Drow, n., [scot.] A tiny elf which lived in caves and forged magical metal work." The word's origin is identical to the origin of the word "troll," which goes back further to the Scottish Gaelic word spelled "trow." The original Scottish Gaelic word is pronounced "dtrow" with a soft "dt" sound, and the original pronunciation sounds similar to "troll." The word is also found in Cornish and Welsh, with slight pronunciation differences. The race itself seems based on another dark elf, specifically the Dökkálfar of Norse mythology.

I think the TSR/WOTC pronunciation guides betray a strong Midwest bias. I remember one from Dragon Magazine with pronunciation of the various types of dinosaur rhyming with "car" -as in "Dino-sahr" instead of "Dino-sore". I also found it funny that "herb" is listed with a silent "h" like in "hour".